SV’s Hames reflects on stellar freshman effort
As a freshman, Seneca Valley’s Lexie Hames’ main goal was to simply to make the varsity team.
Well, she did that.
And she made her mark as the Raiders’ starting pitcher.
And she helped the program to its first WPIAL softball title this century.
And she threw two consecutive shutouts in the state tournament, on the way to Seneca Valley’s PIAA Class 6A runner-up finish.
It’s safe to say her standards will be loftier next spring.
“It (was) interesting to me when she finally told me what her individual goal was,” said Marlesse Hames, the Raiders’ coach and Lexie’s mother. “I knew she would make varsity, even if I wasn’t coaching. If she was anywhere else, she’d be on that mound.”
“I feel like my goals have changed so much since then,” Lexie said. “They just kept getting bigger throughout the year.”
The elder Hames expected domination out of her daughter, especially knowing the level of offseason travel ball competition that she faced prior to the prep schedule. At first, Lexie’s need to impress hindered her.
“I knew that she just had to realize, ‘You just need to be you,’” Coach Hames said. “In the beginning, she was a little off and I said, ‘What is going on?’ It just wasn’t her.”
Lexie was caught up with proving herself to her team and showing that she belonged. The transition with a new coach in Marlesse was also bumpy initially.
Once those worries washed away and the squad jelled, she settled into a crucial role in the circle — and the Raiders gained some steam.
Seeing Lexie overcome early nerves is nothing new to Marlesse, though.
Last fall, in her first time guesting with the Bandits, Lexie hit four batters with pitches. Marlesse reassured the travel coach, basically saying, “Wait, you’ll see.”
Now, Lexie has already gotten her second season with the Bandits underway. She has the chance to sharpen her craft in an uber-competitive setting and gain attention from out-of-state college coaches that Marlesse didn’t get to enjoy during her own playing days.
“(It) affords her the opportunity to play at an extremely high level,” Marlesse said. “You’re hitting those tournaments where the college coaches are attending. You’re seeing a lot of Power Five coaches.”
The mother-daugther duo has already talked about what the cards could hold for Lexie’s high school encore. The former stresses that improvement isn’t always linear. Expectations shouldn’t hinder Lexie in trying to show out in her sophomore go-round.
“Every year is different,” Marlesse told her. “You just need to prepare like you’ve been preparing. She just loves being on that pitcher’s mound.”
“Whatever happened this season is different from the next season. We’re going to just keep working to get better.”
Said Lexie: “I just kind of be myself. If my numbers are there, I’m proud to say (that).”
